Toronto Raptors: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly: Week 3

The Toronto Raptors started off the week with a back-to-back-to-back, and ended it with a back-to-back—a very tiring five games in a span of six days.

It is obvious that the team was very tired, and it was tiring for them to play against teams that had gotten rest the night before. Most teams would have lost the latter of those games were they in the same position, so these losses are not a big deal.

Week 3 record: 1-4 (Currently on a four-game losing streak)

The Good: The Defense

The addition of Dwane Casey has been a huge plus for the Toronto Raptors, especially in the terms of defence.

Despite having a losing record, the Toronto Raptors are the seventh best defensive team in the NBA, allowing only 91.7 points per game. Yes, you read that right, seventh in the NBA.

Casey has changed this defense around, and we have seen many players improve their off- and on-ball defensive tendencies.

Now only the offense needs some help.

The Bad: Unable to Hold a Lead

There was only one game this week where the Raptors were unable to hold a major lead. Against the Indiana Pacers, they were up by 16 at one point. They gave the lead up, even though the Pacers were without their main player, Danny Granger.

Sure it was one game, but even those minor leads against the Bulls, or the Kings, or any other team that played this week should have been kept in favor of the Raptors.

The Ugly: Demar DeRozan

DeRozan has really been playing poorly his past few games, but he did redeem himself against the Indiana Pacers, scoring 23 points.

His numbers have been going up since his last game scoring under 10 points. Especially with the fact that Andrea Bargnani is out for a while with a sprained calf, many players need to step up in the scoring department, and DeRozan is one of them.

It is just a tough stretch for him—DeRozan has a great work ethic and CAN bounce back.